lunes, 18 de enero de 2010

MAPS: Haití, la logística, LOGISTIC CLUSTERS

The Cluster Approach was endorsed by the Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC) in Sept. ‘05 The IASC, in its own words, is "the primary mechanism for inter agency coordination of humanitarian assistance. It is a unique forum involving key UN and non-UN humanitarian partners". http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/iasc/
The IASC committee is chaired by the Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC), Sir John Holmes. The full members are the heads of the UN humanitarian agencies, standing invitees include OHCHR, World Bank, IOM, ICRC, IFRC, Inter-Action, ICVA (represented by World Vision International) and the Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response (represented by Oxfam).
Nine Clusters were agreed with a lead agency for each. WFP is the lead agency for Logistics Cluster.
The global cluster leads are "accountable to the Emergency Relief Coordinator for ensuring predictable and effective inter-agency preparedness and response within the concerned areas of activity". This entails the very important element of accountability and where necessary the lead agency becomes the provider of last resort.